'“I think they made a pretty big error in sitting back on us after they got up a few goals,” said Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, who made 40 saves. “It allowed us to skate, and our guys did a great job of shooting for holes and getting the passes. These guys can really play some hockey when they get their feet moving. It was a nice turnaround.”'

'“I feel good,” Connolly said Friday in a rare interview. “There’s such a brighter outlook now. I just have to get through this, and when I start playing I won’t have a lot of time to get into shape, but I’ll do the best I can the next few weeks.”'

‘Showing why they lead the NHL with 103 points, the Sabres came back with a display of offensive wizardry, scoring four times in a span of 8:45 to pull out a thrilling, not to mention stunning, 5-4 victory over the Leafs at raucous HSBC Arena.’

‘Vanek, who had gone seven games without scoring before Sunday’s goal in a 4-3 overtime loss to Atlanta, scored for the second time in three games, tipping a Dmitri Kalinin shot past Andrew Raycroft just over five minutes into the opening period. The goal was Vanek’s 36th on the season, but he wasn’t through. In the third, with the Sabres trailing 4-1, Vanek added his 37th as he blew a shot past Andrew Raycroft on the power play that cut the lead to two.’

‘”A lot of Leaf fans were here, so we definitely wanted to satisfy our fans as well,” Vanek said. “This was probably the most exciting win of the year given that it is the Leafs. We started coming back from down 4-1, the fans started getting excited and the players got even more excited.”‘

‘”It’s a tough place to be,” Ruff said of the Leafs’ 11th-place rank prior to the game. “I’ve been there. Going back to my time as an assistant in Florida, a couple of times we missed the playoffs by a point. Every game just seems so stressful, every bounce, every penalty. You know every little situation in a game is going to dictate where you’ll be at the end of the year.”‘

‘”How long has fighting been around the game of hockey?” the Sabres winger asked rhetorically. “It’s part of the game, the fans love it and there’s a need for it, for someone to protect their teammates at all times.”‘

‘For the first two periods it really did feel like a home game. It was Air Canada Centre South and the Leafs Nation was at their best. No suits, no shrimp cocktails, but just plain hockey fans excited to be at a game. It was a playoff atmosphere all the way. And what an atmosphere. The electricty is something rarely felt at the ACC. “This game has more Leaf fans than I have ever seen here,” said one usher shaking his head.’

‘“Personally,I find it offensive,” Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters said of Campbell’s remarks. “Fighting in the NHL is a hard job and comments like that take away from what you mean to your team. It kind of feels like they’re saying we’re useless. I don’t think that way,and I think that if you asked 25 guys in this locker room, they’d tell you the same thing.”’